This one is rather surprising. Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) has just announced that it will be introducing its largest seven-seater SUV, the Palisade, in Malaysia sometime this year. The Palisade debuted in the US back in November 2018 and has since found its way to Indonesia (albeit with a 2.2L diesel), where it is being sold for the equivalent of RM223k to RM309k.
The SUV is monolithic, measuring 4,981 mm in overall length, 1,976 mm wide, 1,750 mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2,900 mm. To put that into perspective, that’s nearly the size of the Audi Q7, except the German SUV has a longer overall length and wheelbase (+71 mm and +94 mm respectively).
As for the powertrain, HSDM has confirmed that our Palisade will get a 3.8 litre V6 engine. The direct-injection, Atkinson-cycle mill offers 291 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 355 Nm of torque at 5,000 rpm. An eight-speed automatic transmission (with a multi-plate torque converter) is standard, sending power either to the front wheels or all four wheels (HTRAC AWD).
No additional information has been provided regarding its equipment, but expect the premium SUV to come with a fully digital 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster and an eight-inch Display Audio infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionalities. A larger 10.25-inch unit is an optional upgrade in some markets, so only time will tell if the fancier display will find its way here.
Other unique features include a shift-by-wire ‘gearstick’ with automatic park logic that shifts the car into ‘P’ when the engine is turned off, an industry-first vent diffuser design to provide a focused, partially diffused or fully-diffused cool air to rear passengers, seven USB charging outlets, 16 cupholders, Driver Talk in-car intercom system (direct communication with rear passengers), and Rear Sleep Mode, which basically cuts audio in the rear.
A good reason to buy a vehicle such as this is for its carrying capacity. With all seven seats up, there is 510 litres of space available, which beats a lot of the Palisade’s competitors. With the third row seats folded flat, boot space expands to 1,297 litres. It remains to be seen if the Palisade will get Hyundai SmartSense.
The other SUV that’s coming is the Kona facelift. According to HSDM managing director Low Yuan Lung, the Kona has “captured the attention of many buyers who are looking for a distinctively designed compact SUV.”
The refreshed SUV will get the Smartstream G2.0 Atkinson-cycle engine, which is mated to the automaker’s iVT or intelligent variable transmission. The MPI engine produces 149 PS at 6,200 rpm and 180 Nm of torque at 4,500 rpm, with drive sent to the front wheels. An AWD version is also available, but that variant will probably not be offered here.
Interestingly, there is no mention of the 1.6L turbocharged variant. The outgoing, range-topping Kona is powered by a 1.6L Gamma T-GDi engine making 177 PS at 5,500 rpm and 265 Nm of torque from 1,500 to 4,500 rpm. A seven-speed DCT sends drive to the front wheels, doing the century sprint in 7.7 seconds. That makes it the fastest car in its class and outdrags the Proton X50 1.5 TGDi. It would be nice to still have this option, don’t you agree?
In any case, the Kona facelift will come with a sportier-looking front fascia, enhanced interior with redesigned air vents and speakers, as well as a new ambient lighting system that also lights up the cubbies and foot lamps. HSDM added that new interior colour options, materials and trims will be available, too. So, what do you think? Let us know, below.
GALLERY: 2021 Hyundai Palisade (US spec)
GALLERY: Hyundai Kona facelift
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- Hyundai KONA
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- Hyundai KONA
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- Hyundai KONA
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- Hyundai KONA
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- Hyundai KONA
GALLERY: Hyundai Kona facelift N Line
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Saw new Kona facelift in Westport Klang, according from one source in Malaysia
This Palisade the Audi Q7, Lambo urus and volvo XC90 killer.
Just launched not too long ago..now facelifts on the way?
Wait for super duper discounts for those who dont mind the old stocks before new batch arrive.
Bring it on
The Palisade in Malaysia is getting a V6?! That’s fantastic news. Malaysians will get to have the same experience as we do in America – large 7 seater SUV/CUVs with smooth V6 engines (my mom has a 2016 Honda Pilot with 3.5 V6). Now in America the starting price for the Palisade is RM132,000+ so … hopefully cars like these will become more common and cheaper (CKD) there.
Cheaper palisade is a myth,fairy tale in bolehland.It will cost double for the same vehicle in USA or Australia.
I realise,since most of Sime darby’s Hyundai’s cars has low volume sales..they opt to go for premium pricing to cover their huge overheads.This is a fact.
For your information, full sized imported Cars are priced like real estate in Malaysia. And the annual renewal taxes (we call it road tax) can perhaps buy u top of the line Macbook Pro.
Smack in the face to those Kona buyers, within 1 year their cars got outdated by a facelift version. That is worse than Toyota Vios facelift buyers.
how come look like Mitshubishi Outlander like that?
Yeah looks a bit. But doesn’t look much
Should be 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander looks like 2018 Hyundai Palisade
What a stupid comment..
Palisade released much earlier
SmartSense 2.0 Engine is quite fine to use. Still this is basically 9.2 seconds with 200km/h, but with 6 speed auto. However, if using IVT gearbox which is 8 speed auto, it will be lesser than 9 seconds with over 200km/h as top speed
It’s going to be fun when driving this
Beware…the pricing by Sime Darby will be….guess
A.Expensive
B.More expensive
C.Most expensive
D.Outrageous
E.Superduper premium
F.OOTB (out of the box)
ANSWER: ALL OF THE ABOVE
Ha ha…
ALL of the above
Wanna 2 or
Still waiting 4 feedback
Wow can’t wait to see one of these bad boys on the road. Not everyday we get to have the same setup as our American brothers.
Bit of a taste of maybe ‘murican size, yeaah
V6 3.8 Engine for Palisade. Good move. But just that should bring this with CKD and give cheaper here
Is Hyundai insane again? 3.8L – RM5.7K road tax a year.
The 2.2L diesel would have made perfect sense and the Palisade might fly off the shelves.
Shooting themselves in the foot. This is why Hyundai is a bestseller in many countries, but here sell less than BMW.
Isn’t SUV’s road tax cheaper? Should cost 2920 annually kan?
no 5.7k lah suv have cheaper roadtax then sedan the roadtax for a 3.8 suv is around 2.8k.
still not cheap… a 2.2 would cost u around 500 only….
Still a lot more expansive than the 2.2 diesel roadtax less than 1000. And the diesel has 90nm more torque than that of petrol eqivalent
Good
Good luck to them trying to sell a 3.8L suv…
Wonder why they don’t bring in the diesel variant. Hyundai’s 2.2 Turbo Diesel has a proven reliability record even with poor quality diesel
will sime darby price the palisade above their own x5
What happened to isuzu mu-x? We need a truck based suv as our roads are of low standards. New roads will be dug up within months to lay cable causing roads to be uneven, potholes and dangerous.
for sure DOA like the Elantra..
Hope they offer special trade in price for the owner who bought the old Kona.